How to Care for Beaded Jewellery and Freshwater Pearls

Handmade beaded jewellery is more durable than it looks and more vulnerable than most people expect — just not to the things they worry about. Here is what actually causes damage, and the small habits that prevent nearly all of it.

The single most important habit

Put your jewellery on last, and take it off first.

Perfume, hairspray, sunscreen, moisturiser and deodorant are the main cause of damage to plated findings and the main cause of dulling in pearls. Almost all of it is avoidable by putting jewellery on after you are otherwise ready to leave, and taking it off before you undress.

Freshwater pearls

Pearls are not stone. They are layers of nacre, an organic material, and they are softer than almost everything else in a jewellery box — around 2.5 to 3 on the Mohs scale, which means a steel key will scratch them.

• Acid dulls them permanently. Perfume, hairspray, vinegar, lemon juice and even prolonged sweat will etch the nacre. The damage is not reversible.
• Wipe them after wearing. A soft dry cloth, every time. This is the single thing that keeps pearls looking new for decades.
• Never use jewellery cleaner, ultrasonic cleaners or polish. All of them strip nacre.
• Store them separately and flat. Loose in a drawer with other jewellery, they will pick up scratches from harder stones and metal.
• They like being worn. Pearls benefit from contact with skin, which keeps them from drying out. A pearl necklace left in a box for ten years fares worse than one worn weekly.

Glass and seed beads

Glass beads are tough. The vulnerability in a beaded piece is almost never the beads — it is the thread or wire holding them.

Avoid pulling a beaded necklace over your head if it has a clasp; use the clasp. Repeated stretching is what eventually breaks a strand. Store beaded pieces flat rather than hanging, because hanging puts constant tension on the thread.

If a strand does break, keep the beads. Restringing is usually straightforward and a great deal cheaper than replacement.

Gold and silver plating

Plated findings have a finite life. The plating is a microscopically thin layer, and it wears through eventually — particularly on rings and bracelets, which take friction constantly.

You can slow it considerably:

• Keep plated pieces away from chlorine and salt water. A single swim in a pool does more damage than months of ordinary wear.
• Take rings and bracelets off before washing up, showering or applying hand cream.
• Do not use silver polish or dip on plated items. Polish is abrasive and removes the plating itself.
• Wipe with a dry soft cloth. Nothing wet, nothing chemical.

Natural stones and shells

Gemstones vary enormously. Tiger's eye and rock crystal are hard and forgiving. Amazonite, chalcedony and calcite are softer and chip more easily. Real shells are softer again and dislike prolonged water.

The general rule: treat any piece containing natural material as you would pearls. Dry cloth, no chemicals, stored separately.

Storage

Flat, dry, and separate. A drawer with fabric-lined compartments is ideal; a shallow box with soft dividers works fine. What does not work is a bowl on the dresser where everything tangles and rubs together.

Australian humidity is worth a thought if you are in a coastal or subtropical area. A silica gel sachet in the drawer costs almost nothing and prevents a good deal of tarnish on silver.

A realistic expectation

Treated well, freshwater pearls and glass beads will outlast you. Plating will not — expect a few years of regular wear on a favourite bracelet before it starts to show. That is normal for the material, not a fault, and it is worth knowing before you buy rather than after.

Our full care guidance lives on the product care page. If something needs repair or restringing, get in touch — we made it, so we can usually fix it.